Image via John Brown Smokehouse Facebook.

John Brown Smokehouse, located at 10-43 44th Drive, is slated to close after eight years in business. The restaurant’s owner, Josh Bowen, released an announcement via social media that the Long Island City location would close and open at the location of his second restaurant, Mothership Meat Company (27-20 40th Ave.) in mid-September or early October of this year.

Bowen cited the decisions of local politicians, as well as the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic as deciding factors behind the move. Via Facebook, he wrote: “It is bittersweet to leave 44th Dr but between Covid and our idiot local politicians, nothing will ever flourish there for decades. We thought the neighborhood would grow around us, and it was, until the worst political regime in modern memory started doing things other than cashing donor checks. And as much as we appreciate their total ineptitude during a pandemic, we have to move on.”

Give Me Astoria would like to wish Josh Bowen and the team at John Brown Smokehouse the best of luck going forward and in its new location! We’ll be sure to keep you posted when John Brown Smokehouse reopens later this fall.